Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2007-08: Christian Thomas was chosen by the London Knights in the first round of the 2008 OHL Priority Selection. Son of former NHL player, Steve Thomas.

2008-09: Began his OHL rookie season with the London Knights, playing in 32 gsmes for that club. Thomas scored 4 goals and added 7 assists for 11 points. He was traded to the Oshawa Generals in the deal that sent John Tavares to London. In 27 games for the Generals, Thomas scored 4 goals and added 10 assists.

2009-10: In his first full season with the Generals, Thomas picked up 41 goals and added 25 assists for 66 points in 64 games. Thomas was chosen in the second round, 40th overall, of the 2010 NHL Draft by the New York Rangers.

2010-11: Thomas was the leading scorer for a resurgent Oshawa Generals club that returned the OHL playoffs after a two-year absence. Thomas scored 54 goals with 45 assists and was +20 with 38 PMs in 66 games for the Generals. He scored 19 goals on the power play. In 10 OHL playoff games Thomas scored 4 of his 9 goals on the power play and had 9 assists. He finished +8 in the playoffs with 4 PMs.

2011-12: Thomas made his pro hockey debut, joining Rangers’ AHL affiliate Connecticut after skating for the OHL’s Oshawa Generals. He scored 1 goal with 1 assist and was minus-one in five regular season games and was plus-two with no points or penalty minutes in six playoff games. Thomas was the Generals leading scorer after a slow start. He struggled with the Rangers’ prospects at the Traverse City Tournament and then receive a 10-game OHL suspension in October. Thomas was a big part of Oshawa’s late playoff push, finishing with 34 goals and 33 assists in 55 games and had an even plus-minus with 12 penalty minutes. In the six-game playoff series with Niagara he scored 2 goals with 2 assists and was minus-three with 4 penalty minutes.

2012-13: Thomas made his first (and only) NHL appearance with the Rangers as a 20-year-old in a February 23rd game at Montreal, seeing 12:46 minutes of ice time with no points or penalty minutes in a 3-0 loss. He scored 19 goals in 73 AHL games for New York affiliate Connecticut, third most on the team, and was +5 with 16 assists and 15 penalty minutes. The Whale missed the AHL playoffs by two points despite finishing second in the Northeast Division. Montreal acquired Thomas from the Rangers in exchange for Danny Kristo in a July, 2013 trade.

Talent Analysis

Thomas is an undersized, high skill forward, with excellent speed and outstanding hands. He has the potential to be an elite scorer in the NHL, however, he will need to build greater body strength to be successful in the NHL.

Future

Thomas should compete for a top-six position at the AHL level in Hamilton and see time on the team's power play. He's expected to help provide more offensive production for the Bulldogs this coming season. The skilled winger could be used as a possible injury replacement for the Canadiens this year depending on his play in Hamilton.

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Photo: Swiss forward Sven Andrighetto is one of several Montreal Canadiens prospects to miss some time to injury this season. Andrighetto is in his first year of professional hockey following two high-scoring years in the QMJHL. (courtesy of Minas Panagiotakis/Icon SMI)

After finishing the 2012-13 season in last place, the Hamilton Bulldogs, the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens, are challenging for a playoff spot at the halfway point of the 2013-14 season.

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Photo: Photo: Charles Hudon is one of several offensively gifted forwards in the Montreal Canadiens system. Hudon was selected in the fifth round of the 2013 NHL Draft. (courtesy of Minas Panagiotakis/Icon SMI)

The Montreal Canadiens spent the 2013 off-season addressing various holes in their organizational depth chart and now have good balance throughout their system. Montreal's management philosophy is to give their prospects every opportunity to seize a spot on the NHL roster. The organization is not afraid to put rookies into regular season NHL games for evaluation purposes and the approach has worked very well so far.

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Photo: Montreal forward Brendan Gallagher was one of the top rookies in the NHL last season, managing 15 goals and 13 assists through 44 games. (courtesy of Jay Kopinski/Icon SMI)

The Montreal Canadiens have added quality and quantity to their talent pool over the last two years, bringing in players with good offensive skills, speed, size and physicality, but more importantly leadership and good work ethic. This could be the deepest group of prospects the Canadiens have had in their farm system for quite some time.

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Photo: Selected 15th overall in the 2011 draft, forward J.T. Miller has quickly developed into a promising NHL player. (courtesy of Will Schneekloth/Icon SMI)

The New York Rangers have been through a lot of changes since the 2012 draft, most notably obtaining elite forward Rick Nash, which cost the team this year's first round selection, and gritty forward Ryan Clowe at the trade deadline, which cost New York's second round pick. So, unless there are more trades over the next few days, the Rangers will be very quiet in the early rounds on Sunday. But do not put it past General Manager and President Glen Sather to make some noise, as there are valuable players, including prospects, who can be traded to either move up in the draft or obtain an extra selection.

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Photo: Forward Cristoval Nieves had an excellent freshman season at the University of Michigan, managing 29 points in 40 games. (courtesy of Gregory Shamus/NHLI via Getty Images)

Many high-end New York Rangers prospects have graduated to the NHL over the last few years, and while that has resulted in a lot of success in the regular season, it has also created a dearth of elite young talent in the system. Despite this, several prospects who are currently in the system stood out during the 2012-13 season.